Letters: Barchi, abortion and Social Security

Rutgers President Robert Barchi testifies before the Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton on Thursday, April 18, 2013.

Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger

Give Barchi time he needs

Rutgers President Robert Barchi has acted swiftly to remove the parties responsible for the unfortunate events at the Rutgers Athletic Department. As senior faculty at the Rutgers Business School, we are concerned these events divert attention from the real issue — the future of the university.

Recent economic realities have engendered financial challenges, especially in the face of dwindling state support. In order to grapple successfully with these challenges, Rutgers needs to reinvent itself educationally and scientifically, and morph into an even greater academic leader, built on strong financial foundations.

The process is just beginning. Within the first six months of the president’s tenure, Rutgers is being admitted into the Association of American Universities and the Big Ten, both prestigious, elite organizations.

In moving Rutgers forward, Barchi faces major challenges reorganizing Rutgers with minimal funding. As a distinguished neurologist, provost of the University of Pennsylvania and president of Thomas Jefferson University, Barchi is uniquely qualified. It is incumbent upon us to give him the opportunity to transform Rutgers into an even greater institution.

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Wrongly convicted need more

Regarding David Shephard’s op-ed, “More money needed for wrongly convicted” (April 21): I also am a victim of an improper conviction.

Society cannot place a price on the years of mental and emotional suffering. Now that I have been released back into society, I have been subjected to the constant badgering and humiliation of getting various certificates and licenses back, which I had before being incarcerated. It is difficult to get a monetary stipend along with immediate housing, employment and other services.

I am definitely in favor of raising compensation for the wrongly imprisoned from $20,000 to $50,000, however, I believe Gov. Chris Christie and lawmakers need to raise the bar and place an order for an immediate exoneration or pardon.

The appeals process is grueling and, now that the wrongly imprisoned are placed back into society, we are subject to the slow, grinding bureaucracy. An accelerated process is needed, in the interests of justice and fairness.

A.J. Nash, Plainfield

Efforts for crime victims

Last week, law enforcement and victim advocates marked national Crime Victims’ Rights Week here in New Jersey and throughout the country. We strive all year to reaffirm New Jersey’s commitment to enforce victims’ rights and address their needs, but the week shines a spotlight on these issues.

Last August, Gov. Chris Christie signed “Alex DeCroce’s Law,” which updates and strengthens New Jersey’s existing Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights. In that same spirit, I have made fighting human trafficking a top priority for my office. The governor agrees.
Last year, I directed law enforcement to increase prosecutions of human trafficking and to rescue victims, and I created a new Human Trafficking Unit, which has already made significant arrests.

Through a partnership between law enforcement and houses of worship, we have been able to sponsor gun buybacks across New Jersey. These efforts took more than 9,000 guns out of circulation, including 1,100 illegal guns and 4,500 handguns.

We will continue to fight for victims on these fronts and more, working with New Jersey’s strong community of victim advocates, law enforcement, the faith-based community and elected officials.

Jeffrey S. Chiesa, New Jersey attorney general

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Not a savings account

Everyone works hard and pays Social Security until retiring, but what many fail to understand is that Social Security is not a personal retirement account.

What you pay in is not yours and never will be. Many, many people are drawing checks from the money you paid in; many never put in a dime. Tens of millions more will collect far more then their meager contributions while, for example, a widow who contributed the maximum for more than 45 years passes away and has nothing to leave her heirs.

Social Security has become little more than a massive redistribution of wealth, manipulated by crooked politicians to keep getting re-elected.

Ernest Battice, Orange

Backward logic on abortion

I usually agree with columnist Michael Smerconish, but I question the logic in his op-ed “Be careful what you wish for” (April 24).

No rational person can defend the actions of Kermit Gosnell.

Fortunately, Smerconish does not make such an attempt. But his conclusion that “Gosnell isn’t indicative of what occurs when abortion is legal; he is the walking warning for what might come if Roe vs. Wade is overturned” is illogical.

Abortion has been legal in the United States since 1973. Women who used Gosnell’s services had access to other abortion providers; some perhaps not as conveniently located, but available nonetheless.

In my opinion, Gosnell is a walking example of what happens when abortion is legal. Did every one of Gosnell’s clients think it was legal and safe to have an abortion after eight months of pregnancy? Of course not. They knew what Gosnell was doing and used him as an abortion provider of last resort, regardless of technique.

Edward J. Kmiec, Califon

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